The field of the invention is sporting goods and the invention relates particularly to pucks of the type that are used on a surface other than ice.
Ice hockey has been a popular sport for many years but is, of course, limited to cold climates or artificially made ice rinks. With the advent of in-line roller skates, it is possible to skate across a non ice surface in a manner quite similar to skating on ice. It has quite naturally led to the game of roller hockey. It was found that the normal relatively hard rubber puck would not slide on a cement surface in a satisfactory manner. Furthermore, the puck could easily cause injury when striking a player.
Various styles of pucks for use on non ice surfaces have been devised. Such pucks are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,111,419; 3,997,164; 4,801,144; 3,726,526; 3,784,204; and 2,727,744. Several of these pucks have runner type devices which are rotatable such as a ball bearing intended to reduce friction and this has been found to be unsatisfactory in actual use because of the ease with which runners become frozen and inoperative due to clogging with foreign matter during play. None of the devices have the ability of unrestricted rotation. Furthermore, such devices require more material which adds to their weight.
A hollow plastic puck filled with rice became the early puck of choice. This rice filled puck, while superior to the ice hockey puck, did not slide sufficiently over the surface and therefore, a puck with a lower coefficient of friction was needed to increase speed. Also, the rice or other internal substance causes the puck to move in a somewhat unpredictable path. This is because the rice or other material shifts within the hollow puck during play. Furthermore, the outer surface of the rice puck became rough and slowed down during play. The inner design also helps to regulate the extent of deflection.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a puck for use on non ice surface which will approximate the well known hard rubber puck used on ice while maintaining both speed and accuracy.
The present invention is for a puck for use on a non ice surface such as cement asphalt or wood which puck is generally cylindrical in shape. The puck includes an outer ring, having an outer ring surface, an inner ring surface, a top and a bottom. At least three fixed runners extend upwardly from the top and downwardly from the bottom surfaces of the puck. An open area is present inwardly from the inner ring surface. The puck is fabricated from an generally elastic material so that the outer ring will deflect slightly when the puck is struck against a wall or other object. Preferably a central member is supported inwardly from the outer ring and is preferably attached thereto by several connecting members or arms.